The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to diagnostic ultrasound systems, and more particularly, to a method and system for measuring dimensions in volumetric ultrasound data.
Physicians often rely on medical images to diagnose and assess a patient's medical condition. When assessing the medical condition it is often desirable to measure a distance between two different features. For example, during aortic valve replacement, it is important to measure the distance between the aortic valve plane and the onset of the coronary blood vessels. At least one conventional ultrasound system utilizes a virtual caliper to measure the distance between the aortic valve and the onset of a coronary artery. More specifically, the operator acquires a single two-dimensional (2D) image, also referred to herein as a slice plane, that includes both the aortic valve and the onset of a coronary artery. The operator then utilizes the conventional virtual caliper to measure the distance between the aorta and the left coronary on the 2D image.
This conventional measurement process relies upon the capability to position the ultrasound probe such that the 2 structures of interest are visible simultaneously in one single plane. This may prove to be difficult or even impossible. Another method is to use one volumetric acquisition and to reconstruct a single plane. However, it is often difficult to orient a single reconstructed slice plane such that the slice plane has sufficient visibility of the two features to enable the operator to properly mark and perform the distance measurement.